


Sometimes I don't think he hears

by longhairshortfuse



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: M/M, POV Cecil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 17:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5464877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/longhairshortfuse/pseuds/longhairshortfuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos misses something important and upsets Earl. Cecil narrates the whole debacle and talks about Carlos's plans to make it up to Earl.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sometimes I don't think he hears

**Author's Note:**

  * For [valda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/valda/gifts).



> An apology, for missing something important.

... Listeners? You know it is not my habit to digress into personal or private matters on my most informative news show but I am sure Station Management will indulge me with a few moments of air-time, or at least until they notice what I am talking about.

You see, yesterday morning at breakfast, I laboriously channeled my most hateful thoughts into preparation of the smoothest coffee for Carlos and Earl. Carlos is this community's most handsome scientist, and he is my boyfriend.

Have I mentioned that before? I don't think I have...

Anyway, um, yes. Earl is staying with us for a while, so there's that.

Over coffee, Earl mentioned something about how interesting it would be to do some science to find out about the weird-sounding words that are coming... no, _emanating_ from the municipally-approved and gaudily-wrapped, be-ribboned and tinseled packages that appeared overnight on everyone's hearths. You know, take them to the lab and prod them and hook them up to the wires snaking from the beeping machine with the blinking lights and punch-tape slot.

We were especially surprised by our package because until last night our apartment did not even _have_ a hearth. Nope, we had full, electronic climate control, an idea Carlos adapted from his car. Mmhmm, so convenient not to have to take my turn shoveling combustible materials into a boiler-room furnace any more.

Carlos complimented my coffee-making skills, as usual, and carried on making oat-flour pancakes for breakfast. Nothing more was said about our new hearth, although it is really quite decorative, or the package that sat there _literally_ begging to be opened.

Earl took Roger to school and went to work, no doubt tantalizing the tastebuds of Night Vale's celebrity class. Apparently you get priority booking if you are a local celebrity. I asked, but you have to have a card. You get a card by filling out a secret document in quadruplicate with lemon juice and posting it in the mailbox of the Brigadoon development, which is reputed to exist in our dimension on only one day every hundred years. And they're not saying which day. Huh.

I wonder if Night Vale Community Radio mailroom would let me assign an intern...

Oh. Intern Mia is performing the traditional dance for " _get a move on they're waking up_ " so I guess I better get back to the real important news.

Carlos, clever Carlos, instructed his team to collect up as many packages as they could and do science. You know, they prodded and shook, listened for rattles and squeaks, peeled up the tiniest corners of tape to look underneath the wrapping whilst leaving it looking untouched, but they made no significant progress until Carlos connected one to the blinky-beepy machine and suddenly it flashed up a whole bunch of hot data.

Carlos got very excited! Oh he was so cute...

His team danced around the machine, pointing and making strange sounds at the billowing colourful jets escaping its many openings, hoisting aloft the lab's collection of those ritual black cylinders with long, funneled mouths that disgorged freezing clouds of vapour until Carlos said they could stop and continue their celebrations outside in the fresh air, kindly inviting representatives from the local fire department to join the fun.

As I am sure you all heard, Carlos gave us a very entertaining and informative explanation of the packages. I should repeat here, please take your package to the nearest munitions disposal facility as soon as you are able and by the end of tomorrow at the latest. If you are unable to dispose of your package safely and it has started a soft clicking sound, please warn your neighbours to take cover before you throw it as far as possible out of your window. Do not, I repeat Carlos's words of warning, do not under any circumstances attempt to pass an electric current through your package unless you have a full range of home firefighting appliances and the expertise to use them correctly.

And a blast screen. Yeah... you'll need one of those. Probably.

Back to the news. I called Earl right away to tell him of Carlos's important discovery and he was... less than happy. He reminded me, at length, of his attempt to instigate a scientific conversation over coffee and pancakes and Carlos's seemingly complete lack of interest. Well. I called Carlos and... Guess what! Carlos called Earl and asked him out to dinner, just the two of them, so that he could apologise in person! Isn't that just the best? My boyfriend and my best friend are making _such_ a sweet effort to get along!

Listeners, it warms my heart to see the way Earl tries to get interested in science and how keen Carlos is to help out with Roger's homework assignments. And how ready he was with an apology for the snub. Carlos even asked my advice about whether Earl would prefer a gift of roses or a bottle of wine.

Oh, Intern Mia pirouetted that they're awake. I better take you to the weather.


End file.
